Last year, lawmakers approved and Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill that requires a detailed review of the use of solitary confinement in Texas prisons.

Four months after the measure became law, though, the committee charged with hiring an independent party to study solitary confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice hasn’t met and has no intention to.

“The oversight committee is not funded or active,” said Larance Coleman, policy director for the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

Now, advocacy organizations are working to find dollars to pay for the study they say is critical to understanding how ...

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As far as "solitary is cruel" goes... I'm not sure about that. People are in solitary for a number of reasons.Some to protect others and others to protect themselves. Someone on suicide watch for instance or, in the case of one transgender woman I know, gen pop would have left her vulnerable so she was given the option and chose it.

Imagine the effect of solitary confinement on a mentally healthy individual who has not committed a crime. Imagine how this would affect you. Imagine. Would it be traumatic to you, to be in solitary for a month, six months, a year or how about many years? Now, imagine the affect on someone with bi-polar disorder and or schizophrenia. Remember, they WILL pay their debt to society and achieve time served. Now exactly what is it that they “learned” in solitary confinement? Better social skills? This study is vital to a healthier and safer society. Solitary confinement is simply a LAZY response to treating individuals with mental illness who should be in the hospital in the first place. Remember punishment does not heal epilepsy or other neurological brain disorders such as bipolar mania, or schizophrenia. Sometimes I don’t know which is more insane, the bipolar schizophrenic or the policies in response to them.